Railway-switch



(No Model.) G. W. PARSONS.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

No. 308,373. Patented Nov. 25, 1-884.

Fig. 1.

N. PETERS. PhaKa-Lllhagmpller. Washmglan. n. c.

Ihyrrnn STATES PATENT QFFIQEQ GEORGE WV. PARSONS, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAI LWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 308,373, dated November 25, 1884.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WELLMAN PAR- soNs, of Harrisburg, in the county of Dauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Switches, of which improvements the following is aspecification.

My invention relates more particularly to that form of railway-switches commonly called split switches, in which a pair of movable tapering point-rails connected by bars are arranged between a pair of diverging fixed rails in such manner that the tapering point-rails may be shifted a certain distance to place oneor the other of them solidly against one of the fixed rails and cause the wheels of the cars, 820., to be conducted in the desired direction, according to the position of the point-rails, the object of my invention being to provide and attach to the point-rails certain improved attachments, made of malleable cast-iron or cast-steel,whiehlwill call sockets, adapted to receive connecting-bars of the simplest possible form, and, with the connecting-bars, to afford a simple and substantial method of coupling together the movable point-rails of a split switch that, while it will permit the movable rails to be easily shifted laterally, will also prevent either rail from being longitudinally shifted out of proper relation to the other, and will operate to hold the point-rail which is in service firmly and securely in place, both laterally and vertically, the whole being adapted to be manufactured with the least possible expenditure of skilled labor, and having all like parts interchangeable.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan View of a switch embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same on the line U X, and Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the same on the line V Y. Fig. 4 is a cross-section showing a modification of my improvement. Fig. 5 is an elevation of sockets D D and D D". Fig. 6 is an elevation of sockets D D.

As shown in Fig. 1, A and A are the diverging fixed rails of the track. 13 and B are the movable point-rails of the switch. 0, G, and 0* are the connecting-bars by which the tapering pointrails are coupled together, and D D D D D D are sockets attached to the point-rails B andP, into which sockets the connecting-bars O C O extend, and are secured by pins or bolts 0 c, passing downward through the sockets and the connecting-bars.

In order to use connecting-bars of the simplest possible form, andin order to avoid the necessity of forging them, I make the sockets D, D, and D with an inclosed recess, 01, adapted to receive the ends of the connecting-bars O, O, and C and though the recess d may be of any form to which the ends of the connecting-bars are adapted, I prefer to make the recess with parallel walls inclosing a space two or three times as wide as it is high, and so proportioned as to receive the ends of the connecting-bars and have the upper and lower surfaces of the ends of the connecting-bars and the adjacent surfaces of the recess in close contact for a sufficient distance to steady the point-rails B and B and prevent the sockets from wabbling on the ends of the connectingbars, and also to allow only such lateral play of the connecting-bars as the shifting of the point rails from side to side may require, which will be in proportion to the length of the point-rails and the distance they move. If the width of the recess is much greater than the width of the connecting bar, one point-rail may be advanced longitudinally beyond the other either in handling or laying the switeh,which, if not corrected,would narrow the gage and be injurious. \Vhen the recess d is made with the upper and lower surfaces parallel, the connecting-bars O O C may be the ordinary commercial fiat bars of iron or steel of thickness to fit the sockets, and of such width as to allow due movements, requiring no preparation exceptthat of cutting off to the proper length and drilling holes for the pins or bolts 0 c,- or they may be bars of any other form, provided that the ends are flattened out to fit the recess (1 in the sockets D D D The great weight of locomotives and heavily-loaded cars causes the track to settle moreor less as the weight passes along, and as a switch must necessarily extend over several cross-ties, whenever the great weight comes over the heel of the switch (or the part x00 most remote from the point) the springing downward of the point-rail at the heel is liable to cause the other end of the point-rail (or the toe) to spring upward and extend above the surface of the fixed rail off which the train may be passing, and while thus elevated the point-rail may be broken and injured. To prevent the point-rail from rising I make the sockets. D D, which receive the connectingbar 0 at the front end of the switch, of such form that the connecting-bar C may extend completely through the sockets and under the base of the fixed rails A A, as shown in Fig.

3, so that the projecting ends of the connect-v ing-bar C will act as stops against the fixed rails and prevent the point-rails from being raised up in the manner above mentioned. For this purpose the sockets D D are provided with a shank long enough to project the recess (1 in-the sockets D D beyond and below the edge of the flange of the point-rails B and B", the shank being also formed so as to drop the recess (1 below the base of the fixed rails A and A It is preferable to make the shank of the socket D D of a form which will fit closely to the upper surface of the flange of the point-rail B and 13 but this may be as is most convenient.

I show two modes of attaching the sockets D D to the point-rails B and B, either of which may be used as the nature of the case requires. The plan most practicable and most desirable is that shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 6- that is, by using bolts or rivets passing through the vertical web of the point-rails B and B, and through the flange d, which is made to fit the web of the point-rail, and is strengthened by the flanges d", as shown in Figs. 3 and 6; and this plan is best for all rails of height sufficient to carry the wheel-flanges clear of the flange (Z.. But as it is frequently neccssary to make switches of rails so small that the flanges of wheels passing along such rails must project lower than the under side ofthe head, and as it is necessary in planing the pointrails to remove the overhanging part of the head at the place where the connecting-rod 0 should be attached, the plan for attaching the socket to the point-rail shown in Fig. 4c becomes most feasible for such switches of small rails, and has its advantages.

As shown in Fig. 4, the shank of the socket D is conformed to the flange of the point-rail, and is secured to the flange by rivets or bolts passing through the shank and the flange of the point-rail, by which plan there will be no part of the socket extending high enough to come in contact with the flanges of the wheels.

a true fit to the flanges in case the socket D should not fit the rail-section, as the hooks d in malleable cast-iron can be hammered out to meet the edge of the rail and bear solid against it.

Having provided against the point-rails B B being lifted up, as above set forth, the sockets for attaching the connecting-bars O and C will be formed, as shown in Figs. 2and 5, with the recess d above the flanges of the point-rails B and B so that the bolts or pins used to secure the connecting-bars G and C will pass through the flanges of the point-rails, as shown in Fig. 2, except in cases where the pattern of rail used for the point-rails may be such as to require the pins 0 c to be farther out from the web of the point-rails.

The recess d in the sockets D D may be formed to incline upward parallel to the upper surface of the flange of the point-rails B and B or the lower wall of the recess may be omitted, leaving the surface of the flange to form the lower 'side of the recess; but either of IOC) by bolts or rivets through the flange d, (see Fig. 5,) or the sockets D and D may be provided with a flange at each end to fit on the flange of the rails B and B and secured thereon by bolts or rivets. I11 either case the end walls of the recess (1 may be extended downward to form hooks d, (see Figs. 2 and- 5,) which pass under the flange of the point-rails 5 B and, engaging therewith, resist strains which might tend to loosen the attachment of the socket to the point-rail.

Inasmuch as the principal strains on the pin 0 are shearing strains, I prefer to have the recesses d in the sockets D D open clear through the sockets, so that the ends of the connecting-bars O C" may bear against the vertical web of the point-rails B B, and thus relieve the pins 0 and the sockets D D" from strains when they are in a direction to be so relieved; but it the sockets D D be made with the recesses closed at the ends next to the web of the point-rails, or if the ends of the connecting-bars G O are prevented from bearing againstthe web of the point-rails or against the end of the recess, such construction is within the scope of my invention;

If the connecting-bar C be made long enough to extend beyond the fixed rails A A as shown in Fig. 3, it will afford a convenient means of moving the switch by attaching the moving rod at one end of said connectingbar 0.

with the sockets made of malleable cast-iron or cast-steel, I avoid the expensive forgings and smith-Work commonly required in the construction of switches, and utilize principally unskilled labor.

W'hen suitable patterns have once been prepared to fit the various patterns of rails, the sockets can be molded by labor comparatively unskilled, and can be produced in quantities at a minimum of cost. They are all alike, and therefore interchangeable, and are easily fixed to the point-rails; and by using suitable forms of commercial iron bars for the connecting bars the switches can thus be made at a large saving of cost, with due provision for the strains and displacements to which they are liable.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the fixed rails A and A", the point-rails B and 13 the connectingbar G, and the cast-metal socket D, the latter having an inclosed recess, d, lower than the base of the point-rail, substantially as and for the purpose specified. v

2. The combination of the point-rails B and B with the socket D, having hooks d and inclosed recess (1, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination of the point-rails B and B and the connecting-bars G and O and the sockets D D and D D said sockets having each an inclosed recess, d, above the flange of the point-rail, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the point-rails B and B and the connecting-bars O and 0 with the sockets D and D'-, said sockets having each an inclosed recess, (1, and hooks d, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

GEO. V. PARSONS.

\Vitnesses:

A. M. SNYDER, J. M. EARNEST. 

